Severin

Not much so far this week Mimi Barks - Crawling LEMONSUKR - Dead Disco

Was waiting for David to turn up. I think it's reasonably known on here that I'm a something of a massive fan of his and his legacy and influence is almost unparalleled. That being said the '80s is probably his weakest decade, creatively, and yes I am including the '60s in that. It all started so well with the Scary Monsters album which was a fine follow on from the Berlin trilogy, that gave him a deserved 2nd #1. After that things slowly began to unravel somewhat. Under Pressure was a barebones idea of a song that somehow worked, mainly due to having all the magic ingredients present, but Bowie's theatrical, cinematic and label distractions came at a cost. The Baal EP and Cat People single were both great but with a new deal at EMI in hand he went looking for hits. The drunken antics of one Billy Idol threw Bowie and Nile Rodgers together and the hits duly followed but the Let's Dance album was 50% brilliant, the other half was trash. Bowie, by his own admittance began phoning it in during the '80s. Tonight, was full of bad covers and only Blue Jean and Loving the Alien are worth the time. Absolute Beginners showed there was still class in him when he wanted but that should have been the #1 and not the terrible Jagger collaboration (good intentions aside). The Labyrinth soundtrack album was a mess and by the time he worked on Never Let Me Down he was barely in the studio and left the album in the hands of the session players for the most part. (However, the re-recorded 2018 version of the album shows how good it could have been). Tin Machine, for all their faults, literally renewed him artistically and showed he was back on the pulse, picking up on the nascent sounds of the American underground scene that would explode in the wake of Nirvana. With the exception of those who came before him, Bowie has influenced pretty much every musician whose work I have ever loved. For me he will always be The King of the Weirdos.

Separate chart for albums and a separate chart for compilations/greatest hits collections

Bob Vylan will no longer be playing the RADAR Festival in Manchester this weekend. However, the decision was not taken by the festival organisers themselves, who intended to continue with the booking. The host venue however, is half privately owned and half owned by AMG and Live Nation and conversations were going on 'above our collective heads, as a venue and ourselves, about whether Bob Vylan could play.' They were ultimately told that if Bob Vylan wasn't removed from the Saturday line up the festival itself would not happen on that day, forcing the 41 other bands to pull out and placing the entire weekend in jeopardy, not to mention the financial hit to the venue and organisers. Additionally, the festival organiser were given the job of informing the band and instructed not to reveal any details of the decision for a simple announcement 'Bob Vylan will not be appearing at RADAR festival this weekend', leaving ticket buyers to conclude that the festival itself had made the decision. In other news, Canadian musician Jordan Benjamin aka Grandson, who was due to be the headline act alongside Bob Vylan on the upcoming US tour made the following statement - “Censorship is a tactic of control. They blame artists and activists and not those responsible for the conditions we rage against. From the death spiral of corporate greed to the genocide of Palestinian lives, the music and the artists are not the problem, we are the symptom of a sick world. As a Jewish artist, I am deeply offended by the conflation of criticism against a military force known for their indiscriminate violence with antisemitism. The Israeli government has done more to exacerbate antisemitism this past 2 years than any statements by artists advocating for Palestinian freedom and solidarity. Bob Vylan are the one feature on my album and that feature will go on. If they have the opportunity to come to the United States they will join us on the Inertia Tour as planned” The band have also received statements of support from the likes of Lambrini Girls, Amyl & the Sniffers, SOFT PLAY and Kneecap

Stevie Wonder is one of those acts who had an impressive '60s, a brilliant '70s and a creative mess in the '80s. After which, commercially, he never quite recovered.

Spoilers ahead - be warned There's lots of silly things in the film. Firstly, Sonny Hayes wouldn't be allowed in F1 without a superlicense which he clearly couldn't have but ignoring that he would almost certainly get a 10 second penalty and maybe 3 points on his license from his actions on the start at Silverstone. At Monza it is stated over team radio, to be prepared, then he collides with Magnussen. The team confirm over team radio it was deliberate and then he does it again with Bottas. 10 second stop-go and 4 penalty points for each time, He's arguably 1 point away from a ban already. Then he deliberately collides with polystyrene boards to cause a red flag. At this point he'll almost certainly be black flagged and the team potentially disqualified. But no, he later holds up Verstappen in a clear case of deliberately driving slowly (3 pts) then ignoring blue flags - another penalty and 2 more points on his license. That's 16 and an automatic ban in his first three races but given the nature of the actions he'd likely have his (non existent) license revoked. That's ignoring some implausible aerodynamic and traction leaps, which made the Abu Dhabi race ridiculous. The Monza crash was a laugh out loud moment. I can see the similarity to Alexander Peroni's crash - it's clearly inspired by that - but F1 cars are too heavily to launch like that and we have all but banned sausage kerbs since. That being said, it's a brain off popcorn movie and it is entertaining enough with it but I can see a lot of people coming to the sport to find it's not at all how they expect.

June Update Top 40 Plays - June 01 The Sisters of Mercy 73 02 Pulp 70 03 Ultravox 69 04 Nitzer Ebb 68 05 The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing 64 06 The Psychedelic Furs 57 07 Kid Kapichi 56 08 Kraftwerk 50 09 Public Image Ltd 50 10 The Jesus & Mary Chain 45 11 Fleetwood Mac 42 12 Slayer 39 13 Spear of Destiny 38 14 Cwfen 37 15 House of Protection 37 16 L7 36 17 Creedence Clearwater Revival 34 18 Berlin 31 19 Iron Maiden 31 20 The Byrds 30 21 Play Dead 29 22 Creeper 28 23 Avatar 26 24 The The 25 25 Nova Twins 24 26 Hot Milk 23 27 Cheap Trick 22 28 Jeff Wayne 21 29 Johnny Cash 21 30 Press Gang Metropol 21 31 Garbage 20 32 Calva Louise 19 33 Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds 19 34 Projector 19 35 Witch Fever 18 36 BABY METAL 17 37 MANORS 17 38 Panic Shack 17 39 Saint Agnes 17 40 Suede 17 2025 to Date Artists Scrobbled 1,700 (+103) Rank/Previous Position/Artist/Plays/Change 01 (01) Lambrini Girls 175 (-) 02 (02) Manic Street Preachers 11 (+10) 03 (11) The Sisters of Mercy 164 (73) 04 (03) R.E.M. 150 (+5) 05 (04) Poppy 146 (+8) 06 (05) Fields of the Nephilim 134 (+2) 07 (06) Dana Dentata 130 (+4) 08 (07) Creaming Jesus 105 (+2) 09 (08) Chappell Roan 102 (+2) 10 (10) Taylor Swift 101 (+9) 11 (22) Nova Twins 95 (+24) 12 (09) HotWax 94 (-) 13 (NE) Pulp 93 14 (12) Christian Death 86 (+2) 15 (14) Siouxsie & the Banshees 85 (+2) 16 (24) Suede 85 (+17) 17 (13) Dumfun 84 (-) 18 (RE) Kid Kapichi 84 (+56) 19 (48) Cwfen 83 (+37) 20 (15) Heartworms 83 (+1) 21 (17) Delilah Bon 82 (+4) 22 (18) Killing Joke 82 (+4) 23 (NE) Ultravox 81 24 (40) Play Dead 80 (+30) 25 (16) The Horrors 79 (-) 26 (NE) The Psychedelic Furs 78 27 (27) Projector 77 (+19) 28 (20) Peter Gabriel 76 (+3) 29 (19) Mimi Barks 75 (+2) 30 (NE) Nitzer Ebb 75 31 (29) Witch Fever 75 (+18) 32 (21) Eminem 73 (+2) 33 (37) Garbage 72 (+20) 34 (23) The Clash 72 (+2) 35 (RE) Fleetwood Mac 70 (+52) 36 (NE) The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing 67 (+64) 37 (31) Birdeatsbaby 64 (+9) 38 (26) Eville 63 (+4) 39 (25) Curve 62 (-) 40 (NE) Public Image Ltd 62 41 (NE) The Jesus & Mary Chain 62 42 (35) David Bowie 60 (+7) 43 (32) Nine Inch Nails 59 (+4) 44 (30) Beyoncé 58 (+2) 45 (39) Ghost 58 (+7) 46 (NE) Kraftwerk 58 47 (28) The Southern Death Cult 58 (+3) 48 (33) SNAYX 56 (+2) 49 (34) Bauhaus 54 (+1) 50 (49) El Moono 54 (+8) OUT THIS MONTH Jar of Blind Flies 54 (+4) Echo & the Bunnymen 53 (-) The Mission 52 (-) Heilung 50 (+2) Shadow Project 50 (-) Green Day 49 (+3) Billie Eilish 48 (+2) Crimson Veil 48 (+2) Ministry 48 (-) The March Violets 48 (-) FORMER TOP 40 ACTS Lady Gaga 46 (-) Mudhoney 45 (-) Britney Spears 44 (-) Joan Jett and the Blackhearts 42 (+2) The Smiths 42 (-) Cassyette 40 (+4) Doechii 40 (+3) Betty Boo 40 (-) Viagra Boys 39 (+2) Charli XCX 37 (-) Oasis 37 (-) The Beatles 37 (-) Slung 37 (-) Bambie Thug 36 (+2) Harpy 34 (+12) Sick Joy 34 (+4) Knife Bride 33 (+2) Halsey 33 (-) Bruce Springsteen 31 (-) Girls Aloud 30 (-) Rihanna 29 (-) Du Blonde 29 (-) Siiickbrain 27 (-) The Rolling Stones 26 (-) Elvis Presley 25 (+1) Heriot 21 (+2) SONS 17 (-)

Watched this tonight and found it to be not bad. It does indeed look great and was kind of what I expected. Paper thin, predictable plot, cliched script and some very silly moments. It's utterly ridiculous to try and believe that Pitt's character could either perform to that standard after so long out or behave on track in the manner he does without punishment but it was expected after seeing the trailers and reviews. I found both the lead characters to be rather hard to warm to. Cocky, arrogant old hand and cocky arrogant rookie driver doesn't give you much to go with. However, Condon and Bardem were great in the roles. Thought the way the female pit crew character was portrayed was pretty poor too. Kind of like that it sort of shines a light indirectly, on Martin Donnelly, who was a a genuine future star at the time. Would probably watch again at some point but not in any hurry. Grand Prix remains the gold standard for F1 movies, with Ford V Ferrari as probably the best motoracing film of all.

Food for Thought and One in Ten are the only two I like.

UB40 are Reggae for people who don't like Reggae.

Can't bear Phil Collins - vapid, vacuous and the epitome of what was bad in the '80s. Good drummer though Frankie were an exciting breath of fresh air in '83/'84 and they had 4 great singles from the debut album, with Two Tribes as the pinnacle. It was a shame that Holly Johnson's lack of attention/interest marred the follow up album as they had more potential. Rage Hard is a sign of what could have been but by the time they'd paid Trevor Horn half a million to mix the album it was clear they were done. Duran Duran had a great 1st album, but got glossier and less interesting which each follow up but they still managed a run of great singles. By the time of Bond and Live Aid they were coming apart. The Notorious album in '86 showed there was life in them as a three piece, but it didn't show again until the early '90s. Then they managed to come back brilliantly before blowing it again with a dreadful covers album.

The Cure - Hot! Hot! Hot! Billy Idol - Hot in the City Missy Elliott - I'm Really Hot Coolio - Too Hot Power Station - Some Like it Hot Calvin Harris - Heatstroke Bucks Fizz - If you Can't Stand the Heat

Lots of talk saying that both of the exit clauses in Verstappen's contract have now been met. That is - Max below 2nd in WDC Red Bull below 3rd in Constructors.

Some clarity here - Bob Vylan is the act being referred to. Bob Vylan is a band. Bobby Vylan is the singer. He is not a rapper Bobby did not chant 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. He spoke it once. He did chant 'Death, Death to the IDF'. Personally having spent many occasions seeing the band live and having met the man, I understood he means the organisation known as the IDF, should be dismantled due to its implication in multiple war crimes across decades. Not a cry to murder individual Jews. The 'From the river...' phrase also has meaning in the desire for Israel to return occupied Palestinian lands, not the destruction of Israel. Bobby is a smart man and whilst his turn of phrase is contentious, perhaps ill advised, he has achieved his goal of raising further conversation around Israels action in Gaza. Whether he foresaw such a strong reaction I cannot say. But I doubt he regrets it.

Hulkenberg was driver of the day. There, I said it...

Kind of odd that Rod Stewart sang the Crazy Horse song and Neil Young didn't. Prodigy delivering as expected

True. The new regs also mean a new engine design and the existing one, that they've not been allowed to change, is half the problem.

^ The heat. Simple as that. Mercedes always struggle in high temps

You may have to be quick but you can hear it -

It's great to see bands bringing the politics back to the festival, instead of the middle class knees up it has been for ages. Must admit I was surprised Neil Young was very quiet in this regard, unless I missed something. He normally has quite a bit to say

Oh look, the media have finally discovered Bob Vylan, and they're getting all agitated about them.

I think it's time to put Lawson back in the Red Bull. The only chance Max has of winning the title is to put him in the RB as it's clearly the better of the two cars. I'm not even sure it's that silly an idea... Tsunoda, in his defence, was a mere 0.263 off of Verstappen's time in Q1, which is much closer than most of Max's teammates have managed. The tightness of the grid is really costing him.

Adam & the Ants were my first official favourite band (there have only been 8 since 1980). I first fell in love with them when my brother came home with the original release of the Kings of the Wild Frontier single. Here was this fascinating tribal Post Punk track that sounded like nothing else. A couple of months later and Dog Eat Dog sealed the deal. By the end of the year Antmusic made them the nations latest stars. I remember a big split in junior school between those who loved the Ants and those who loved Madness as they seemed to be the two hot new acts and apparently you couldn't be a fan of both - nonsense of course. The first Ants album, Dirk Wear White Sox is an underrated Post Punk classic. It was after that and the Zerox single that McLaren nicked both Adam's band and his Burundi drumming idea for Bow Wow Wow. Worth mentioning too that the Ants Mk II featured guitarist Marco Pirroni of the original line up of Siouxsie & the Banshees , bassist Gary Tibbs who would record Roxy Music between 1978-81 and Drummer Merrick, who became better known as Chris Hughes and produced for the likes of Tears for Fears, Def Leppard, Peter Gabriel, Paul McCartny and many more. Of those that McLaren stole to form Bow Wow Wow - Dave Barbarossa was in the original line up of Republica and Leigh Gorman's most notable moments came when he produced Soho's Hippychick and Silver Bullet's Twenty Seconds to Comply. And speaking of McCartney - not a fan of his '80s work is probably the politest way to put it

It's difficult to convey just how popular The Jam were back in the day. I didn't know anyone at school who didn't like them. Although they probably split at the right time. Weller's writing was moving in a very different direction and Style Council were nowhere near as well liked. Culture Club weren't so broadly popular, failing to capture the attention of the more alternatively minded. However, their more openly commercial pop soul reggae Mix won many fans too. They sort of ballsed it up in '84 when they half-arsed their third album and the band fell apart fast. After that the press had a field day with Boy George's personal life. Loved The Jam but never liked Culture Club, although George has a great voice and the 2nd best bit in Do They Know It's Christmas.

I'd switch out Culture Club for Frankie. Cc were in the decline by then but i guess it could be.